Anthony Geary, an eight-time Daytime Emmy winner and fan favorite soap actor known for his role as Luke in General Hospital’s iconic supercouple Luke and Laura, has passed away.
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Geary died Sunday in the Netherlands following an operation three days earlier.
His husband, Claudio Gama, confirmed his death to TV Insider, saying, “It was a shock for me and our families and our friends. For more than 30 years, Tony has been my friend, my companion, my husband.”
Geary was 78.
Anthony Geary, one of daytime television’s most celebrated actors, rose to fame as one of the genre’s most compelling anti-heroes. He joined General Hospital in 1978 as hitman Luke Spencer and quickly became iconic alongside Genie Francis’ Laura Webber.
In a controversial storyline, Luke raped Laura, originally indicating that the character of Luke was not meant to stay on the show. However, the pairing became so popular with viewers that Laura forgave Luke, and the two went on to become one of the show’s most iconic couples.
In 1981, Luke and Laura’s wedding broke daytime television ratings records and garnered national media attention.
Anthony Geary’s TV Career Included a Memorable Appearance on ‘All in the Family’
Geary was born in Coalville, Utah, on May 29, 1947, and raised in a Mormon household. He was discovered as a college actor by Chico and the Man star Jack Albertson, who cast him in a touring production of The Subject Was Roses.
He moved to Los Angeles in the late 1960s and landed roles in episodes of Barnaby Jones, The Partridge Family, Room 222, and The Mod Squad, per IMDb. Most memorably, he appeared in a 1971 episode of All in the Family as a friend of Rob Reiner’s character, Michael, who was mistakenly believed to be gay by Carroll O’Connor’s Archie Bunker.
Anthony Geary Lands His Signature Role
Geary began his soap opera career in 1971 on NBC’s Bright Promise. He later appeared as George Curtis, a rapist, in two 1976 episodes of CBS’s The Young and the Restless. This role led to his breakthrough casting in 1978 on General Hospital.
Despite the supercouple’s immense popularity, Francis left the role in 1982. She briefly returned in 1983, and the couple officially left the show together in 1985. Francis later reprised the role in 1993, departing again in 2002 before returning once more.
Geary won Daytime Awards for his performance on General Hospital in 1982, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2012, and 2015.
Throughout the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, he also appeared in TV roles on shows such as Barnaby Jones, The Six Million Dollar Man, Hotel, Sunset Beat, Murder, She Wrote, and General Hospital: Night Shift, among others.
He also appeared in several cult films, including the Fat Boys vehicle Disorderlies (1987), Weird Al Yankovic’s UHF (1989), and Scorchers (1991).
After retiring in 2015, Geary and his husband, Gama, moved to Geary’s home in Amsterdam.